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Please see our friends, the Neely’s, blog.  A beautiful tribute to our nation in light of September 11 and our nations founding.  Please click here.

Availability=

making my own schedule and priorities secondary

to the wishes of those I am serving.

If we had to pick just one character quality to describe the VA FEW weekend, availability would be it.  The Staddons, Neelys, and Wilkes families all work together to provide a weekend of encouragement for other families.  It is a wonderful time of getting to know other like-minded families, learning wisdom from those who have gone before you, and immense encouragement for all family members to stay committed to the call God has placed on their lives.  Not to mention, it is just plain FUN!

This year was no exception.  So we have to send out a HUGE dose of gratefulness for thinking of others before themselves (which would bring “deference” in at a close second place for top character qualities)!

Here are a “FEW” things we learned about….Each lesson was really full of personal testimonies, which is a powerful way to share your life with others….

An excellent Civil War presentation by Matthew and Mark Wilkes

Learning by Analogies Chalk Drawing by Donald Staddon

Removing Bittereness by Don Staddon

Lessons on Passing the Baton from one generation to the next by Mark WIlkes

Godly Relationships by Don Staddon

Family Ministry by Patrick Neely

Family Entrepreneurship by David Stezel

We only have a “FEW” pictures because we spent too much time talking (OK- so clearly that means Jill had the camera in hand-no surprise there) But if you click above on the family names for FEW, their blogs are full of great pictures! Oh, and as you can see in a “FEW” pictures that we discovered our zoom button on our little pocket camera doesn’t work well…so some aren’t so clear.  Sorry, but you get the idea

Some words you connect right away because you see the “overlap” in the words and meaning. For some reason it took me ages, I mean AGES to draw the connection I will mention below.  But first, WHY I needed to draw it. Hang in there with me- I will get to the point!!

I have long had the discipline of making lists. Especially of things that are forever running through my mind looking for resolution.  So I had made a list.  It was about two years ago, just after our Sam had come home from the hospital for an unexpected and long visit.  So we were in “recovery mode” and kid behavior was…well, not the prettiest.  So I sat in my bed one night, praying, contemplating, churning, praying some more.  Then, I made my list.  My list of all the things that I was allowing to irritate me. I say allow, because I know irritations are a choice. But none the less, they were irritating me and I wanted it to be resolved.

List in hand, I began my discipline further.  I began to dig through my Bible for answers.  I know that God is soveriegn and that He knows what is very best for me, but still I needed a NEW perspective.  I knew I wasn’t looking at things the right way.  One by one I began to find the answers I needed to hear.  The truth in Gods Word that went DIRECTLY to “my list”.  Changing my perspective on little and big things.

But there was one problem.  I couldn’t find one of the answers.  I KNEW it had to be there somewhere, but let’s be honest for a minute—how in the world was I going to find “dealing with kids with compulsive perseveration issues”!!  Last time I checked that was NOT in the concordance—or was it???

But you see sometimes God makes us wait for the answer so that we will never forget it once He gives it to us.  That thing tortured me!!!  One thing left on the list, seriously, it was there somewhere- I just needed to find it! But how?

God knew I needed time, about two weeks worth that is.  You see, He was having me wait until the correct day on the calendar.  I had been reading through the Psalms and Proverbs of the Day each morning. (The number Psalm that correlates to the day on the calendar).  Anyways, I needed to get the 25th day of the month.  On that day I would read Psalm 25, Psalm 55, every 30th psalm from that day.

THERE IT WAS!!! Staring me in the face. Well actually it wasn’t staring at me at all, it HIT me like a ton of bricks. I mean GOD PLOWED ME OVER.  I was SOOOOOO off track. I was looking for the answer that I wanted or that I thought would resolve my issue.

PSALM 55 “As for me, I will call upon the Lord , And the Lord will save me. Evening, and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace form the battle that was against me.”

Did you see it??? Oh I surely did– “morning, evening and noon- calling, crying, praying”  Oh yes my friend. God LOVES perseveration.  I was bemoaning perseveration issues in my children, and there God was telling me that He LOVES perseveration.  Oh yes He does.  He calls us to continually pray, constantly call upon, cry out to Him, ALL DAY LONG.

And then, if that wasn’t great enough, God says “He will redeem my soul in peace”!!!!!!!  Isn’t that we are looking for- peace? It comes from God. He supplies it.  He gives it.  Through His own ability to redeem our souls.  But if we aren’t crying out to Him all the day long, then our soul will be missing out on that peace!

Oh God is so funny!  Just when I thought I was going to get a “resolution” to my irritation. God tells me to turn around and start perseverating too.  He wants me to perseverate on Him!

Annd now for my “word connection” that I mentioned in the beginning.  Did you notice that “perseveration” and “perseverance” are very similar?  One we think of as a negative definition, and the other we commend people for having it.  Thought provoking.

Perseveration on God and His Word brings about perseverance.  Perseverance brings about endurance.  You can’t learn to endure without persevering. But you can’t learn to persevere without perseverating.

Now that was two years ago, but God loves to remind us often of what we need to keep at the forefront of our minds. So recently, I have been praying again about the same thing.  Now, this time I know what God has to say about it, but I decided to look even deeper to see what ELSE I might find.

In Revelation 3:10-13 God says “because you have kept my command to persevere” you will not loose your crown, and He will make you a “pillar in the temple of My God” and on it He will write “all the names of God” and the name “New Jerusalem”.  I LOVE visual pictures.  A giant pillar standing in God’s temple there with a crown, and written all over it, like gorgeous graffiti, the names of God. That pillar could be YOU.

So then, what will you perseverate on?

Recently Sophie, our “teacher of wisdom”, hit the DOUBLE DIGITS.  Drum roll please…………….

Tradition #1–On the actual day of their birthday they open a special “Double Digits Box” from Uncle C-Dub and Aunt Emi.  It’s loaded with double yummies.  Like double stuff oreos, double mint gum, double sided markers, –you name it, if it is double it is in that box!

Tradition #2– Nauna & Nat take the kids on a special day when they hit the double digits.  Sophie chose to celebrate her special outing when her Aunt Emi and new little cousin, Hudson, were in town.  This made the day DOUBLE great.

Sophie’s new goat (that she got from Dad and Mom for her birthday) went into labor just days before the special outing…..and you know what she had…twins!! Twin girls–of course!!!  Double the delight. Can you guess what she named one of them….Oreo The other- Truffle.  ”Midwife Sophie” helped deliver them at 2:00 AM!!!

The day of her outing, Sophie went to The Butterfly Museum and the Yanke Candle Factory.  If you are EVER near by you MUST MUST MUST visit the Butterfly Museum (Magic Wings Emporeum). It was the most spectacular event- awe inspiring.  The picture tell the story.